Who would be the worst player to one day own the Angels?

With rumors of Alex Rodriguez wanting to own the Mets, who would be the worst player to one day purchase the Angels?

As news broke that former Yankee Alex Rodriguez and his wife Jennifer Lopez are raising capital to make a bid on the New York Mets, it got me thinking about the Angels, and what if they were up for sale and a player, like A-Rod, decided to purchase the franchise?

We could debate who the best player would be to become the team’s owner one day, but that would be boring. Instead, let’s rank who would be the worst players to announce their intentions to purchase the Angels.

I’m not thinking in financial terms for this. Let’s assume every player would purchase the team with the same resources available to them. This is a list of the worst players, by name and spirit, to one day try to become owner of the Halos.

5. Albert Pujols

Since Albert Pujols came to Anaheim, it has felt like the Angels committed a crime against the city of St. Louis, and their punishment was to pay in arrears for everything the former MVP accomplished in the National League city. Maybe the Angels should pay the electricity bill at Busch Stadium too.

Pujols’ ten-year, $240 million contract finally comes off the books in 2021. That seems like long enough to pay for a player to have his name attached to the team without receiving any of his Hall-of-Fame production.

4. Jose Guillen

I just have bad memories of Jose Guillen. His volatile temper nearly cost the Angels the division title in 2004. Guillen was suspended for his outburst against manager Mike Scioscia after being pulled in a September game for a pinch-runner. It wasn’t the first time his behavior was called into question.

The outfielder signed a two-year, $6 million deal the previous offseason and had produced at the plate in his first year with the Angels, hitting 27 home runs with a .294/.352/.497 slash line.

It was difficult for Angels management to make the decision to suspend him at a critical juncture of the season, but his behavior called for it. At the time, the Angels were clinging to a one-game lead in the standings, which they would preserve even without one of their best hitters. However, they could have used his offense in the playoffs when they were swept by the Red Sox.

If a former player is going to one day own the Angels, it shouldn’t be one who cost his own team in the middle of a pennant race.

3. Manny Ramirez

You can’t have a former Dodger owning the Angels, even if his time at Dodger Stadium ended unceremoniously. But beyond that, Manny was part of the Red Sox teams that ended the Angels postseason hopes twice, in 2004 and 2007, both times with him tearing it up at the plate, batting .300 in ’04 and .375 with two home runs in ’07.

The Red Sox have been a thorn in the Angels sides during the postseason, stretching back to the most heartbreaking loss in franchise history in 1986. Boston has knocked the Halos out of the playoffs four separate times until the Angels finally won a series against them in 2009.

A former Dodger and former Red Sox, who also cheated baseball? No thank you.

2. Randy Johnson

There’s no way any Angels fan can look at 6-foot-10 left-hander Randy Johnson and think of anything other than 1995. A nightmare collapse that reached its climax on this pitch:

Not only did Johnson put an exclamation mark on the worst collapse in franchise history, he was dominant against the Angels throughout his career. In 31 starts, he went 16-7 with a 2.92 ERA, pitching five complete games and two shutouts against the Halos. It was never fun to see Randy Johnson. He can stay far away from the franchise.

1. Josh Hamilton

Do I even need to explain?

No, ok. I didn’t think so.

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